Single-chip multi-stimulus sensor controller

ABSTRACT

A multi-stimulus controller for a multi-touch sensor is formed on a single integrated circuit (single-chip). The multi-stimulus controller includes a transmit oscillator, a transmit signal section that generates a plurality of drive signals based on a frequency of the transmit oscillator, a plurality of transmit channels that transmit the drive signals simultaneously to drive the multi-touch sensor, a receive channel that receives a sense signal resulting from the driving of the multi-touch sensor, a receive oscillator, and a demodulation section that demodulates the received sense signal based on a frequency of the receive oscillator to obtain sensing results, the demodulation section including a demodulator and a vector operator.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/056,841, filed Oct. 17, 2013, which claims thebenefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/283,423, filed Sep. 10, 2008,(U.S. Pat. No. 8,592,697, issued Nov. 26, 2013) each of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This relates generally to controllers for multi-stimulus sensors, and inparticular, to single-chip controllers for multi-stimulus touch sensors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many types of input devices are presently available for performingoperations in a computing system, such as buttons or keys, mice,trackballs, joysticks, touch sensor panels, touch screens and the like.Touch screens, in particular, are becoming increasingly popular becauseof their ease and versatility of operation as well as their decliningprice. Touch screens can include a touch sensor panel, which can be aclear panel with a touch-sensitive surface, and a display device such asa liquid crystal display (LCD) that can be positioned partially or fullybehind the panel so that the touch-sensitive surface can cover at leasta portion of the viewable area of the display device. Touch screens canallow a user to perform various functions by touching the touch sensorpanel using a finger, stylus or other object at a location dictated by auser interface (UI) being displayed by the display device. In general,touch screens can recognize a touch event and the position of the touchevent on the touch sensor panel, and the computing system can theninterpret the touch event in accordance with the display appearing atthe time of the touch event, and thereafter can perform one or moreactions based on the touch event.

Mutual capacitance touch sensor panels can be formed from a matrix ofdrive and sense lines of a substantially transparent conductive materialsuch as Indium Tim Oxide (ITO), often arranged in rows and columns inhorizontal and vertical directions on a substantially transparentsubstrate. Drive signals can be transmitted through the drive lines,resulting in signal capacitances at the crossover points (sensingpixels) of the drive lines and the sense lines. The signal capacitancescan be determined from sense signals that are generated in the senselines due to the drive signals. In some touch sensor panel systems,multiple drive lines are stimulated simultaneously to generate compositesense signals in the sense lines. While these systems offer someadvantages, conventional multi-stim systems can be inflexible becausetheir design typically limits the operation of the system to a specificstimulation scenario. For example, a typical multi-stim system must usespecific combinations of drive signals to generate specific sensesignals, and must extract the signal capacitance from the sense signalsin a specific manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, a multi-stimulus controller for a multi-touchsensor is formed on a single integrated circuit (single-chip) to includea transmit oscillator, a transmit signal section that generates aplurality of drive signals based on a frequency of the transmitoscillator, a plurality of transmit channels that transmit the drivesignals simultaneously to drive the multi-touch sensor, a receivechannel that receives a sense signal resulting from the driving of themulti-touch sensor, a receive oscillator, and a demodulation sectionthat demodulates the received sense signal based on a frequency of thereceive oscillator to obtain sensing results, the demodulation sectionincluding a demodulator and a vector operator. Such an implementationmay provide a more flexible system than conventional designs. Forexample, the vector operation can allow for selection and testing ofarbitrary vectors, allowing system designers to test and implementdifferent stimulation matrix/decode matrix combinations, for example,without the need to extensive redesign of the sensing system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example computing system according to embodimentsof the invention.

FIG. 2 a illustrates an exemplary mutual capacitance touch sensor panelaccording to one embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 b is a side view of an exemplary pixel in a steady-state(no-touch) condition according to one embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 c is a side view of an exemplary pixel in a dynamic (touch)condition according to one embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example application specific integrated circuit(ASIC) single chip multi-touch controller according to embodiments ofthe invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example transmit channel according to embodimentsof the invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example stimulation of touch sensor panelaccording to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example sense channel and the first stage of themulti-stage vector demodulation engine according to embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example second stage of the multi-stage vectordemodulation engine according to embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example receive NCO according to embodiments ofthe invention.

FIG. 9 a illustrates an example mobile telephone having a touch sensorpanel including a single-chip multi-stimulus controller according toembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 9 b illustrates an example digital media player having a touchsensor panel including a single-chip multi-stimulus controller accordingto embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 9 c illustrates an example personal computer having a touch sensorpanel (trackpad) and/or display including a single-chip multi-stimuluscontroller according to embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following description of preferred embodiments, reference is madeto the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which itis shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which theinvention can be practiced. It is to be understood that otherembodiments can be used and structural changes can be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the embodiments of this invention.

This relates to a multi-stimulus controller for a multi-touch sensorthat is formed on a single integrated circuit (single-chip). Thecontroller includes a receive section, a multistage vector demodulationengine, a transmit section, and various peripherals, such as memory,logic, interfaces, signal generators, processors, etc. Themulti-stimulus controller can drive a sensor, such as a touch sensorpanel, using multiple, simultaneous drive signals, and can receive sensesignals from the sensor that result from the multiple stimuli. The sensesignals received by the multi-stimulus controller can be compositesignals that are formed of a superposition of multiple component sensesignals, each component signal resulting from a drive signal, and eachcomponent signal carrying measurement data. The multi-stimuluscontroller can demodulate and decode multiple composite signals toextract the individual measurement data carried by the componentsignals.

Although embodiments of the invention may be described and illustratedherein in terms of mutual capacitance touch sensor panels, it should beunderstood that embodiments of this invention are not so limited, butare additionally applicable to self-capacitance sensor panels, and bothsingle and multi-touch sensor panels, and other sensors, in whichmultiple simultaneous stimulation signals are used to generate acomposite sense signal. Furthermore, although embodiments of theinvention may be described and illustrated herein in terms ofdouble-sided ITO (DITO) touch sensor panels, it should be understoodthat embodiments of the invention are also applicable to other touchsensor panel configurations, such as configurations in which the driveand sense lines are formed on different substrates or on the back of acover glass, and configurations in which the drive and sense lines areformed on the same side of a single substrate.

FIG. 1 illustrates example computing system 100 that utilizes asingle-ASIC multi-touch controller 106 with integrated drive systemaccording to embodiments of the invention. Touch controller 106 is asingle application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that can includeone or more processor subsystems 102, which can include, for example,one or more main processors, such as ARM968 processors or otherprocessors with similar functionality and capabilities. However, inother embodiments, the processor functionality can be implementedinstead by dedicated logic, such as a state machine. Processorsubsystems 102 can also include, for example, peripherals (not shown)such as random access memory (RAM) or other types of memory or storage,watchdog timers and the like. Touch controller 106 can also include, forexample, a receive section 107 for receiving signals, such as touchsense signals 103 of one or more sense channels (not shown), othersignals from other sensors such as sensor 111, etc. Touch controller 106can also include, for example, a demodulation section such as multistagevector demod engine 109, panel scan logic 110, and a drive systemincluding, for example, a transmit section 114. Panel scan logic 110 canaccess RAM 112, autonomously read data from the sense channels andprovide control for the sense channels. In addition, panel scan logic110 can control transmit section 114 to generate stimulation signals 116at various frequencies and phases that can be selectively applied torows of a touch sensor panel 124.

A charge pump 115 can be used to generate the supply voltage for thetransmit section. The stimulation signals 116 (Vstim) that can haveamplitudes higher than the maximum voltage the ASIC process can tolerateby cascoding transistors. Therefore, the stimulus voltage can be higher(e.g. 6V) than the voltage level a single transistor can handle (e.g.3.6 V). Although FIG. 1 shows charge pump 115 separate from transmitsection 114, the charge pump can be part of the transmit section.

Touch sensor panel 124 can include a capacitive sensing medium having aplurality of row traces (e.g., drive lines) and a plurality of columntraces (e.g., sense lines), although other sensing media can also beused. The row and column traces can be formed from a transparentconductive medium such as Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) or Antimony Tin Oxide(ATO), although other transparent and non-transparent materials such ascopper can also be used. In some embodiments, the row and column tracescan be perpendicular to each other, although in other embodiments othernon-Cartesian orientations are possible. For example, in a polarcoordinate system, the sensing lines can be concentric circles and thedriving lines can be radially extending lines (or vice versa). It shouldbe understood, therefore, that the terms “row” and “column,” “firstdimension” and “second dimension,” or “first axis” and “second axis” asused herein are intended to encompass not only orthogonal grids, but theintersecting traces of other geometric configurations having first andsecond dimensions (e.g. the concentric and radial lines of apolar-coordinate arrangement). The rows and columns can be formed on,for example, a single side of a substantially transparent substrateseparated by a substantially transparent dielectric material, onopposite sides of the substrate, on two separate substrates separated bythe dielectric material, etc.

At the “intersections” of the traces, where the traces pass above andbelow (cross) each other (but do not make direct electrical contact witheach other), the traces can essentially form two electrodes (althoughmore than two traces could intersect as well). Each intersection of rowand column traces can represent a capacitive sensing node and can beviewed as picture element (pixel) 126, which can be particularly usefulwhen touch sensor panel 124 is viewed as capturing an “image” of touch.(In other words, after touch controller 106 has determined whether atouch event has been detected at each touch sensor in the touch sensorpanel, the pattern of touch sensors in the multi-touch panel at which atouch event occurred can be viewed as an “image” of touch (e.g. apattern of fingers touching the panel).) The capacitance between row andcolumn electrodes appears as a stray capacitance when the given row isheld at direct current (DC) voltage levels and as a mutual signalcapacitance Csig when the given row is stimulated with an alternatingcurrent (AC) signal. The presence of a finger or other object near or onthe touch sensor panel can be detected by measuring changes to a signalcharge Qsig present at the pixels being touched, which is a function ofCsig.

Computing system 100 can also include host processor 128 for receivingoutputs from processor subsystems 102 and performing actions based onthe outputs that can include, but are not limited to, moving an objectsuch as a cursor or pointer, scrolling or panning, adjusting controlsettings, opening a file or document, viewing a menu, making aselection, executing instructions, operating a peripheral deviceconnected to the host device, answering a telephone call, placing atelephone call, terminating a telephone call, changing the volume oraudio settings, storing information related to telephone communicationssuch as addresses, frequently dialed numbers, received calls, missedcalls, logging onto a computer or a computer network, permittingauthorized individuals access to restricted areas of the computer orcomputer network, loading a user profile associated with a user'spreferred arrangement of the computer desktop, permitting access to webcontent, launching a particular program, encrypting or decoding amessage, and/or the like. Host processor 128 can also perform additionalfunctions that may not be related to panel processing, and can becoupled to program storage 132 and display device 130 such as an LCDdisplay for providing a UI to a user of the device. In some embodiments,host processor 128 can be a separate component from touch controller106, as shown. In other embodiments, host processor 128 can be includedas part of touch controller 106. In still other embodiments, thefunctions of host processor 128 can be performed by processor subsystem102 and/or distributed among other components of touch controller 106.Display device 130 together with touch sensor panel 124, when locatedpartially or entirely under the touch sensor panel, can form touchscreen 118.

Note that one or more of the functions described above can be performed,for example, by firmware stored in memory (e.g., one of the peripherals)and executed by processor subsystem 102, or stored in program storage132 and executed by host processor 128. The firmware can also be storedand/or transported within any computer-readable medium for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device,such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or othersystem that can fetch the instructions from the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. In thecontext of this document, a “computer-readable medium” can be any mediumthat can contain or store the program for use by or in connection withthe instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computerreadable medium can include, but is not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus or device, a portable computer diskette (magnetic), a randomaccess memory (RAM) (magnetic), a read-only memory (ROM) (magnetic), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) (magnetic), a portableoptical disc such a CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, DVD-R, or DVD-RW, or flashmemory such as compact flash cards, secured digital cards, USB memorydevices, memory sticks, and the like.

The firmware can also be propagated within any transport medium for useby or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, orother system that can fetch the instructions from the instructionexecution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. Inthe context of this document, a “transport medium” can be any mediumthat can communicate, propagate or transport the program for use by orin connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice. The transport readable medium can include, but is not limitedto, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic or infrared wiredor wireless propagation medium.

FIG. 2 a is a partial view of example touch sensor panel 124 that showsmore detail according to embodiments of the invention. FIG. 2 aindicates the presence of a stray capacitance Cstray at each pixel 202located at the intersection of a row 204 and a column 206 trace(although Cstray for only one column is illustrated in FIG. 2 a forpurposes of simplifying the figure). In the example of FIG. 2 a, drivesignals transmitted by transmit section 114 can be applied to the rowsof touch panel. For example, AC stimulus Vstim 214, Vstim 215 and Vstim217 can be applied to several rows, while other rows can be connected toDC. Vstim 214, Vstim 215 and Vstim 217 can be, for example, signalshaving different phases, as will be explained later. Each stimulationsignal on a row can cause a charge Qsig to be injected into the columnsthrough the mutual capacitance present at the affected pixels, where:

Qsig=Csig×Vstim  (1)

A change in the injected charge (Qsig_sense) can be detected when afinger, palm or other object is present at one or more of the affectedpixels. Vstim signals 214, 215 and 217 can include one or more bursts ofsine waves, square waves, etc. Vstim signals could be comprised ofsignals with one specific phase, amplitude and frequency but could becomposite in nature, e.g. can be comprised of multiple signals, eachhaving a specific phase, amplitude and frequency. Each signal componentcould be frequency, phase or amplitude modulated. For example, amplitudemodulation can be used for windowing purposes to provide a stimulussignal that is narrow band and has little harmonic content as to preventunwanted noise sources to enter the receive channel. For example, havinga stimulus signal with a square wave-shape has higher order harmonics.These higher order harmonics may cause in band noise components due tointermodulation between external noise components with the higher orderharmonics of the stimulus. Note that although FIG. 2 a illustrates rows204 and columns 206 as being substantially perpendicular, they need notbe so aligned, as described above. Each column 206 can be connected to asense channel, for example.

FIG. 2 b is a side view of example pixel 202 in a steady-state(no-touch) condition according to embodiments of the invention. In FIG.2 b, an electric field of electric field lines 208 of the mutualcapacitance between column 206 and row 204 traces or electrodesseparated by dielectric 210 is shown.

FIG. 2 c is a side view of example pixel 202 in a dynamic (touch)condition. In FIG. 2 c, finger 212 has been placed near pixel 202.Finger 212 is a low-impedance object at signal frequencies, and has anAC capacitance Cfinger from the column trace 204 to the body. The bodyhas a self-capacitance to ground Cbody of about 200 pF, where Cbody ismuch larger than Cfinger. If finger 212 blocks some electric field lines208 between the row and column electrodes (those fringing fields thatexit the dielectric and pass through the air above the row electrode),those electric field lines are shunted to ground through the capacitancepath inherent in the finger and the body, and as a result, the steadystate signal capacitance Csig is reduced by ΔCsig. In other words, thecombined body and finger capacitance act to reduce Csig by an amountΔCsig (which can also be referred to herein as Csig_sense), and can actas a shunt or dynamic return path to ground, blocking some of theelectric fields as resulting in a reduced net signal capacitance. Thesignal capacitance at the pixel becomes Csig−ΔCsig, where Csigrepresents the static (no touch) component and ΔCsig represents thedynamic (touch) component. Note that Csig−ΔCsig may always be nonzerodue to the inability of a finger, palm or other object to block allelectric fields, especially those electric fields that remain entirelywithin the dielectric material. In addition, it should be understoodthat as a finger is pushed harder or more completely onto themulti-touch panel, the finger can tend to flatten, blocking more andmore of the electric fields, and thus ΔCsig can be variable andrepresentative of how completely the finger is pushing down on the panel(e.g., a range from “no-touch” to “full-touch”).

FIG. 3 is a more detailed block diagram of example single-ASICmulti-touch controller 106 according to embodiments of the invention.Receive (RX) section 107 of touch controller 106 includes miscellaneouschannels 305 (e.g., channels for infrared sensors, temperature sensors,etc.) and a total of N receive channels, such as sense channels 307.Sense channels 307 are connected to an offset compensator 309.Multistage vector demodulation engine 109 includes a digitaldemodulation section 313, a result memory 315, and a vector operator317. Digital demodulation section 313 is connected to a receive NCO 319,and vector operator 317 is connected to a decode matrix RAM 321 andconnected to a result RAM 323. Transmit (TX) section 114 includes atransmit logic 327, a transmit DAC 329, and a total of M transmitchannels 333. Transmit NCO 335 provides a clock to transmit logic and TXDAC and charge pump 115 provides power to the transmit channels.Transmit channels 333 are connected to a stimulation matrix RAM 337 viaan analog bus 339. Decode matrix RAM 321, result RAM 323, andstimulation matrix RAM 337 could be, for example, part of RAM 112.Processor subsystem 102 can store and update, for example, a decodematrix in decode matrix RAM 321 and a stimulation matrix in stimulationmatrix RAM 337, initialize the multi-touch subsystem, process data fromthe receive channels and facilitate communications with the hostprocessor.

FIG. 3 shows processor subsystem 102, panel scan logic 110, and hostprocessor 128. FIG. 3 also shows a clock generator 343 and a processorinterface 347. Various components of touch controller 106 are connectedtogether via a peripheral bus 349. Processor interface 347 is connectedto host processor 128 via a processor interface (PI) connection 353.

An example drive signal transmission operation of touch controller 106according to embodiments of the invention will now be described withreference to FIG. 4, which is a block diagram showing more details oftouch controller 106. Transmit logic 327, which is powered by chargepump 115, generates digital signals based on TX NCO 335. TX DAC 329 is adifferential DAC and converts the digital signals from transmit logic327 into stimulation signals Vstim+ and Vstim-. Vstim+ is a signalhaving a waveform at the same frequency as TX NCO 335, and Vstim− is asignal with the waveform of Vstim+ that is inverted about a commonvoltage Vcm. In this example, the common voltage, Vcm, is equal to 2.5V. Vstim+ is a sine wave of frequency ω having a DC offset of 2.5 V anda maximum amplitude of 4.75 V:

Vstim+=2.5V+2.25V*sin(ωt)

Vstim− a sine wave of frequency ω with a DC offset of 2.25 V and amaximum amplitude of 4.75 V, that is out of phase with Vstim+ by 180degrees:

Vstim−=2.5 V+2.25V*sin(ωt+)180°

Of course, other stimulation signals and signal generation methods couldbe used. For example, TX NCO 335 could include a mixer to mix the sinewave Vstim+ and Vstim-signals above with an envelope waveform generatedfrom an envelope look-up-table (LUT). The envelope shaping/windowingcapability can be beneficial in that it allows the control the spectralproperties of the stimulus waveform and also how much energy is put intothe multi-touch panel. Both of these properties control the amount ofinterference rejection. The more energy is put into the panel the betterthe interference rejection toward external interferers. Examples ofwindowing functions are Gaussian, Chebychev or Rectangular. Using, forexample, a Chebychev window vs. Rectangular window results in a stimuluswaveform that, in the frequency domain, has reduced sideband ripple andtherefore allows less noise to enter the receive channel postdemodulation.

TX DAC 329 supplies Vstim+ and Vstim- to separate lines of analog bus339. Bus 339 also includes a line carrying the common voltage, Vcm, anda line that is grounded, gnd. Each transmit channel 333 includes ananalog MUX 401 and buffer 403. Analog MUX 401 is connected to each lineof bus 339, and can select one of the drive signals, Vstim+, Vstim-,Vcm, or gnd to supply to buffer 403. The use of a single TX DAC 329together with analog bus 339 and multiple MUXs 401 (one for eachtransmit channel) can allow for a reduced footprint on chip versus otherdesigns, while allowing stimulation signals of different phases to begenerated. However, more than one TX DAC 329 could be used. TX DAC 329can be, for example, an R2-R DAC, a thermometer coded DAC, a sigma-deltaDAC, or other type of DAC. MUX 401 selects a drive signal based on astimulation matrix 407 stored in stimulation matrix RAM 337, asdescribed in more detail below. The buffers 403 of the transmit channels333 may have a gain of 1 (unity) or a gain higher than 1 dependent onthe maximum stimulus voltage level at the output of the TX DAC.Therefore, the buffers may serve the purpose of not only gaining up thesignal from the TX DAC but also to provide the drive capability to drivethe mostly capacitive load presented to them by the multi-touch sensorpanel 124.

Output buffer 403 can provide the benefit of preventing the noisepresent on the charge pump supply to propagate to the VSTM outputs. Thisis important as to prevent any unwanted noise on the VSTM portsgenerated by the charge-pump to reduce the signal-to-noise ratio andinadvertently to affect the touch-performance. In other words, buffers403 are essentially self-regulating because each has negative feedback.The power supply ripple rejection of the output buffers 403 can sufficeto suppress any power supply ripple present on the charge pump supply.In some embodiments, using buffer 403 in transmit section 114 mayprovide enough power supply ripple rejection to allow the use of anunregulated charge pump. This can allow the design of the charge pump tobe simpler and more efficient. Furthermore the charge-pump operatingfrequency can selected either as a function of the stimulus frequency oroutside the stimulus frequency range to prevent charge-pump introducednoise to affect the touch performance.

During each step of a multi-step scan of touch panel sensor 124, eachMUX 401 selects one of Vstim+, Vstim-, Vcm, or GND for transmission to acorresponding drive line of the touch panel sensor. GND can be used toput the corresponding output buffer into a low power state to conservepower if that buffer is not used. The selection is made based on stimmatrix 407. As shown in FIG. 4, each row of stim matrix 407 correspondto one step in the scan, and the data values in a row specify theselections of drive signals for each TX channel 333. For each step inthe scan, the MUXs 401 select drive signals based on the data values ina row of stim matrix 407. For example, in the first step, the STEP 0 rowin FIG. 4 specifies a signal selection for the MUX 401 of the first TXchannel (MUX0_SEL), a selection for the MUX 401 of the second TX channel(MUX1_SEL), etc. At each step, the MUXs can select different signalcombinations to stimulate the panel differently than in other steps.Panel scan logic 110 can control the timing of the steps by incrementinga step address stored in stimulation matrix RAM 337 through a connectionvia peripheral bus 349. Once the MUXs select the signals, the signalsare sent to buffers 403 of the TX channel 405 to be transmitted to thepanel sensor. It is noted that panel scan logic can also modify stimmatrix 407 through peripheral bus 349, for example, to adjust the dataentry values of the stim matrix, to replace the stim matrix with anotherstim matrix, etc.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example stimulation of touch sensor panel 124according to embodiments of the invention. In particular, FIG. 5illustrates signal paths of drive signals through rows 204 and sensesignals through columns 206 of touch sensor panel 124. FIG. 5 showstouch controller 106 driving and sensor panel 124 during one step of ascan of the sensor panel. In FIG. 5, touch controller 106 is shownhaving M transmit channels 333 and N sense channels 501, whichcorrespond to M drive lines (rows) 204 and N sense lines (columns),respectively, of sensor panel 124. Transmit channels 333 transmit drivesignals Vstim[0], Vstim[1], . . . Vstim[M−1] through drive lines 204.Sense signals SenseSig[0], SenseSig[1], . . . SenseSig[N−1] aregenerated as a result of signal charges Qsig injected into the senselines 206 of each pixel driven with Vstim, in proportion to the signalcapacitances Csig of the pixels, as described above. Assuming a linearsystem, the total signal charge Qsig_tot injected into a sense line 206is the sum of the signal charges injected at each pixel of the sensechannel C:

Qsig_tot_(C) =Qsig _(C)(0)+Qsig _(C)(1)+ . . . +Qsig _(C)(M−1)  (2)

where Qsig_(C)(R) is the injected charge at the pixel corresponding todrive line R of sense channel C. Thus, referring to equation (1) above:

Qsig _(—) tot _(C) =Vstim(0)×Csig_(C)(0)+Vstim(1)×Csig _(C)(1)+ . . .Vstim(M−1)×Csig _(C)(M−1)  (3)

At each step in a scan of sensor panel 124, a Qsig_tot_(C) is generatedin each sense channel when drive lines 204 are driven with particulardrive signals based on the MUX_SEL values in stim matrix 407 for thatstep. A complete scan of sensor panel 124 results in a plurality ofQsig_tot_(C) measurements, i.e., one Qsig_tot_(C) per channel per step.For a scan having P steps, equation (3) can be written as a series ofequations, one equation for each step in the scan of sense channel C:

Qsig _(—) tot _(C)(S)=Vstim×cos(Pz _(—) stim _(C)(0,S))×Csig_(C)(0)+Vstim×cos(Pz _(—) stim _(C)(1,S))×Csig _(C)(1)+ . . .Vstim×cos(Pz _(—) stim _(C)((M−1),S))×Csig _(C)(M−1)  (4)

where:

-   -   S=step index (from 0 to P−1)    -   C=channel index (from 0 to N−1)    -   Qsig_tot_(C)(S)=Qsig_tot for sense channel C at step S

$\begin{matrix}{{{{Pz}\_ {stim}}_{C}\left( {R,S} \right)} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}{{0^{\circ}\overset{if}{\rightarrow}{{Vstim}\left( {R,S} \right)}} = {{Vstim} +}} \\{{180^{\circ}\overset{if}{\rightarrow}{{Vstim}\left( {R,S} \right)}} = {{Vstim} -}}\end{matrix} \right.} \\{= {{stimulation}\mspace{14mu} {phase}\mspace{14mu} {of}\mspace{14mu} {{Vstim}\left( {R,S} \right)}\mspace{14mu} {for}\mspace{14mu} {sense}\mspace{14mu} {channel}\mspace{14mu} C}}\end{matrix}$

-   -   Csig_(C)(R)=signal capacitance at the pixel corresponding to        drive line R of sense channel C        Equation (4) can be written in matrix form as:

$\begin{bmatrix}{{Q{sig}\_ {tot}}_{C}(0)} \\{{Q{sig}\_ {tot}}_{C}(1)} \\{{Q{sig}\_ {tot}}_{C}(2)} \\\; \\\; \\{{Q{sig}\_ {tot}}_{C}\left( {P - 1} \right)}\end{bmatrix} = {{Vstim} \times \begin{bmatrix}{M_{C}\left( {0,0} \right)} & {M_{C}\left( {1,0} \right)} & \ldots & {M_{C}\left( {{M - 1},0} \right)} \\{M_{C}\left( {0,1} \right)} & {M_{C}\left( {1,1} \right)} & \; & \; \\{M_{C}\left( {0,2} \right)} & {M_{C}\left( {1,2} \right)} & \; & \; \\\vdots & \; & \ldots & \; \\\vdots & \; & \; & \vdots \\{M_{C}\left( {0,{P - 1}} \right)} & {M_{C}\left( {1,{P - 1}} \right)} & \; & {M_{C}\left( {{M - 1},{P - 1}} \right)}\end{bmatrix} \times {\quad\begin{bmatrix}{{Csig}_{C}(0)} \\{{Csig}_{C}(1)} \\{{Csig}_{C}(2)} \\\; \\\; \\{{Csig}_{C}\left( {M - 1} \right)}\end{bmatrix}}}$

where: M_(C)(R,S)=cos(Pz_stim_(C)(R,S))

or, in simplified form:

{tilde over (Q)}sig _(—) tot _(e) =Vstim×{tilde over (M)} _(C) ×{tildeover (C)}sig _(C)  (5)

where: {tilde over (M)}_(C)=the phase matrix for sense channel C

The Vstim×{tilde over (M)}_(C) portion of equation (5) represents theselection of drive signals in stim matrix 407 in view of the particularprocessing methodology of the system. In particular, the entries in thephase matrix {tilde over (M)}_(C) are the cosine values of the phases ofthe stimulation signals (cos(0°) for Vstim+ and)cos(180° for Vstim−).This representation accounts for the particular demodulation processused in the present example embodiment, which is described in moredetail below with reference to FIG. 6. Although different sense channelshave the same phase matrix in this example embodiment, in otherembodiments, the phase matrix may vary from sense channel to sensechannel.

Thus, by stimulating the pixels of a channel with different combinationsof Vstim signals, each combination of Vstim signals defined by a row instim matrix 407, and obtaining the total signal charges Qsig_tot_(C)from the sense signals resulting from the different stimulationcombinations, for example, the signal capacitance Csig_(C) at each pixelof the channel may be determined:

$\begin{matrix}{{\overset{\sim}{C}{sig}_{C}} = {\frac{{\overset{\sim}{M}}_{C}^{1}}{Vstim} \times \overset{\sim}{Q}{{sig}\_ {tot}}_{C}}} & (6)\end{matrix}$

where:

$\frac{{\overset{\sim}{M}}_{C}^{1}}{Vstim} = {{the}\mspace{14mu} {decode}\mspace{14mu} {matrix}}$

However, while the stimulation matrix (and by extension, Vstim×{tildeover (M)}_(C)) represents the drive signals that are selected for eachdrive line for each step in a scan, the stimulation matrix might notreflect how the system is actually being stimulated once the drivesignals are selected. In other words, the stimulation matrix may notcapture other factors in the stimulation of pixels and the measurementof sense signals that may depend on the configuration and operation ofthe system. One example factor not taken into account by the stimulationmatrix is variation in signal delay. FIG. 5, for example, illustratesthat both the drive signals and the sense signals can have differentsignal path lengths in this particular example.

For the sake of clarity, FIG. 5 shows only drive signals 511 (Vstim[0])and 513 (Vstim[M−1]), corresponding to drive lines 204 a and 204 b (thefirst and the last drive lines), and the resulting component signals 517and 519 of sense signal SenseSig[0] generated on a sense line 206 a andcomponent signals 521 and 523 of sense signal SenseSig[1] generated onsense line 206 b (the first and second sense lines). FIG. 5 illustratesthat each sense signal is a composite signal formed by the superpositionof multiple component signals generated at the sense line's pixels.

FIG. 5 illustrates that the length of a signal path from a transmitchannel to a sense channel can be different depending on the particulardrive line and sense line pair. For example, the signal path lengths ofthe component signals from the pixels to the receive channel can bedifferent. In sense line 206 a, for example, the path length ofcomponent signal 517 is longer than the path length of component signal519. Likewise, in sense line 206 b, the path length of component signal521 is longer than the path length of component signal 523. In addition,the signal path lengths of the drive signals can vary by channel. Forexample, the path length from TransmitC[0] to pixel 512 of drive line204 a with sense line 206 a is less than the path length fromTransmitC[0] to a pixel 525 of drive line 204 a with sense line 206 b.For AC signals, for example, variations in the delays in the signals cancause the phases of the component signals to be different, which can bereflected in the superposition of the component signals forming thecomposite sense signal SenseSig used to obtain Qsig_tot_(C). Therefore,stimulation matrix 407 (and therefore, Vstim×{tilde over (M)}_(C)) mightnot accurately reflect the how the sense signals are actually formed,e.g., because the stim matrix does not account for the signal delays inthe system. Because the total signal charges Qsig_tot_(C) of equation(4) are obtained from the sense signals, the resulting phase matrixmight not yield accurate results for the Csig_(C) values. However, thephase components of equation (4) may be modified to compensate forfactors such as variation in phase delay associated with, for example, aparticular drive/sense line pair.

For example, a phase delay associated with the stimulation signal ofeach pixel in a channel can be added to the corresponding phasecomponents of equation (4):

Qsig _(—) tot _(C)(S)=Vstim×cos(Pz _(—) stim _(C)(0,S)+φ_(C)(0))×Csig_(C)(0)+Vstim×cos(Pz _(—) stim _(C)(1,S)+0_(C)(1))×Csig _(C)(1)+ . . .Vstim×cos(Pz _(—) stim _(C)((M−1),S)+φ_(C)(M−1))×Csig _(C)(M−1)  (7)

-   -   where: φ_(C) (R)=the phase delay associated with drive line R of        sense channel C        The modified phase components result is a compensated phase        matrix for that channel:

$\begin{matrix}{{\overset{\sim}{M}}_{C\_ {comp}} = {\quad\begin{bmatrix}{M_{C\_ {comp}}\left( {0,0} \right)} & {M_{C\_ {comp}}\left( {1,0} \right)} & \ldots & {M_{C\_ {comp}}\left( {{M - 1},0} \right)} \\{M_{C\_ {comp}}\left( {0,1} \right)} & {M_{C\_ {comp}}\left( {1,1} \right)} & \; & \; \\{M_{C\_ {comp}}\left( {0,2} \right)} & {M_{C\_ {comp}}\left( {1,2} \right)} & \; & \; \\\vdots & \; & \ldots & \; \\\vdots & \; & \; & \vdots \\{M_{C\_ {comp}}\left( {0,{P - 1}} \right)} & {M_{C\_ {comp}}\left( {1,{P - 1}} \right)} & \; & {M_{C\_ {comp}}\begin{pmatrix}{{M - 1},} \\{P - 1}\end{pmatrix}}\end{bmatrix}}} & (8)\end{matrix}$

-   -   where: M_(C) _(—) _(comp)(R,S)=cos(Pz_stim_(C)(R,S)+φ_(C)(R))        The inverse of the compensated phase matrix is used as the        decode matrix in equation (6):

$\begin{matrix}{{\overset{\sim}{C}{sig}_{C}} = {\frac{{\overset{\sim}{M}}_{C\_ comp}^{- 1}}{Vstim} \times \overset{\sim}{Q}{sig\_ tot}_{C}}} & (9)\end{matrix}$

The decode matrix

$\frac{{\overset{\sim}{M}}_{C\_ comp}^{- 1}}{Vstim}$

can be stored in decode matrix RAM 321 and used along with Qsig_tot_(C)measurements obtained from the sense signals and stored in result memory315 to determine Csig_(C) values by calculating equation (9).

An example process of obtaining Csig_(C) values from the sense signalsaccording to embodiments of the invention will now be described withreference to FIGS. 6-7. The example process implements a multi-stagedemodulation/decode in which Qsig_tot_(C) measurements are obtainedthrough a signal demodulation in one stage and a vector/matrix operationis performed in the 2nd stage to determine the Csig_(C) values FIG. 6illustrates details of one of the sense channels 307 and digitaldemodulation section 313 according to embodiments of the invention. Asshown in FIG. 6, sense channel 307 includes a charge amplifier 601, ananti-alias filter (AAF) 603, and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC)605. Digital demod section 313 includes a programmable delay 607, amixer (signal multiplier) 609, and an integrator 611. In each step ofthe scan, amplifier 601 of sense channel 307 receives a composite signalcharge as described in equation (7) along with a programmable offsetcharge. The charge amplifier 307 then converts the offset compensatedcomposite signal charge into a voltage VSIG via feedback capacitor CFBsuch that the output of the pre-amplifier becomes:Vsig_(C)=(Qsig_tot_(C)−Qoff_(C))/Cfbk_(C).

In some cases, the sense signal can be adjusted by offset compensator309 prior to being input to amplifier 601. Adjusting the offset of thedigital signal can reduce the dynamic range of some stimulation signalsgenerated from highly variable stimulation matrices. In particular, somehighly variable stimulation matrices may result in sense signals havinga dynamic range greater than the dynamic input range of the chargeamplifier 601, that is, the maximum signal magnitude that the amplifiercan accept before the charge amplifier saturates. For example, in thecase that the stimulation matrix is a Hadamard matrix, in one of thesteps in the scan all of the channels are driven with stimulationsignals having the same phase, and it is possible that all of theresulting component sense signals would add up to generate a compositesense signal with an amplitude that saturates amplifier 601. In thiscase, offset compensation would be used to subtract sufficient chargefrom the input charge as to prevent the charge amplifier fromsaturating. Offset compensation during a scan can be performedon-the-fly, that is, different offset compensation can be applied duringdifferent steps of the scan.

In another example embodiment, saturation of amplifier 601 may bemitigated by adjusting, for example, the feedback capacitance of theamplifier. In this case, individual sense channels could be adjusted,but the adjustment would remain the same for each step in a scan. Thisapproach may be acceptable in the case that the stimulation matrix beingused causes the same or similar imbalances of signals in the channelsthroughout the scan, and the amount of adjustment is not too great,e.g., up to a factor of 2. For example, using a circulant matrix as thestimulation matrix causes a fixed imbalance across all steps.

For the sake of clarity, the processing of a sense signal to obtain avalue for Qsig_total is described below in reference to processing asingle component of the sense signal of one sense channel (resultingfrom the stimulation of one of the channel's pixels) to obtain a singleQsig component of Qsig_total for that sense channel. However, it isunderstood that the analysis applies to all component signals, and thatan actual Qsig_total result may be understood as simply a superpositionof the individual Qsig results of the other component signals.

When a stimulation signal, Vstim, is applied to the drive line of apixel, the AC portion of the stimulation signal, Vstim_AC(t), is coupledthrough to the sense line, generating a signal charge Qsig(t) thattracks Vstim_AC(t) with an amplitude proportional to the signalcapacitance Csig of the pixel. From equation (1) above:

Qsig(t)=Csig×Vstim _(—) AC(t)  (10)

The feedback capacitance in the feedback path of the charge amplifier601 converts the injected signal charge into an output voltage relativeto the reference voltage of VREF of the charge amplifier

$\begin{matrix}{{V_{amp\_ out}(t)} = \frac{{Qsig}(t)}{C_{f}}} & (11)\end{matrix}$

Substituting for Qsig(t) using equation (10) yields:

$\begin{matrix}{{V_{amp\_ out}(t)} = \frac{Csig}{C_{f} \times {Vstim\_ AC}(t)}} & (12)\end{matrix}$

Thus, charge amplifier 601 outputs a signal whose amplitude is thestimulus amplitude Vamp_out(t) scaled by the gain (Csig/Cf) of thecharge amplifier. In more general terms, sensor panel 124 adds anamplitude modulation to the drive signal, the amplitude modulationcarrying information about something to be sensed, e.g. the a finger,water level, etc.

The output of charge amplifier 601 is fed into AAF 603. AAF 603 canattenuate noise components above the nyquist sampling limit of the ADCsufficiently to prevent those components from aliasing back into theoperating frequency range of the multi-touch controller. Furthermore,AAF 603 can attenuate any noise outside the frequency operating range ofthe multi-touch controller and therefore helps to improve theSignal-to-Noise ratio. It also can be important to properly select thesampling clock FCLK_DAC of the TX DAC. Generating a signal of frequencyFSTM at the TX DAC clock rate will introduce images in the spectrum ofthe TX DAC output signal at n*FCLK_DAC+/−FSTM whereas N=1, 2 . . . , toinfinity. The images will appear in the composite signal entering thereceive channel. Upon sampling the composite signal with the ADC in thereceive channel, those images will be folded around the samplingfrequency FCLK_ADC at which the ADC samples the composite touch signal.The output of the ADC therefore has the following frequency components:N*(FCLK_DAC+/−FCLK_ADC)+/−FSTM. If the DAC and ADC clock rate FCLK_DACand FCLK_ADC, respectively, are the same frequency, these images appearin the pass-band. In the above example, one possible frequency componentwould be (FCLK_DAC −FCLK_ADC)+FSTM=FSTM and therefore would appear as aundesirable in band component which would lead to reduced SNR andtherefore reduced touch performance Therefore, it is beneficial toselect a TX DAC sampling frequency FCLK_DAC that is different from theADC sampling rate. This can prevent the images from folding back intothe pass-band. In one embodiment, FCLK_DAC can be twice of the ADC clockrate FCLK_ADC. The two clock sources should be correlated, i.e. based onthe same master clock. It can be beneficial to make the DAC samplingclock higher in frequency than the ADC sampling clock as DACs canconsume less power than the power consumed by all ADCs combined for thesame increase in sampling clock frequency.

The output of AAF 603 is converted by ADC 605 into a digital signal,which is sent from sense channel 307 to digital demodulation section313. Digital demodulation section 313 demodulates the digital signalreceived from sense channel 307 using a homodyne mixing process in whichthe signal is multiplied with a demodulation signal of the samefrequency. In order to increase the efficiency of the mixing process, itmay be desirable to adjust the phase of the sense channel output signalto match the phase of the demodulation signal. Stimulating a pixel ofsensor panel 124 with Vstim+ and processing the resulting sense signalas described above would result in the following output from sensechannel 307:

$\begin{matrix}{{V_{{{sense\_ ch}{\_ outV}} +}(t)} = {\frac{Csig}{C_{f}} \times V_{0}{\sin \left( {{\omega \; t} + \theta} \right)}}} & (13)\end{matrix}$

where:

-   -   V₀=the amplitude of the AC portion of Vstim=2.25V    -   θ=the relative phase delay between the signal output of ADC 605        and the demodulation signal for a given sense channel        For stimulation with Vstim-, the resulting output from ADC 605        would be:

$\begin{matrix}{{V_{{{sense\_ ch}{\_ outV}} -}(t)} = {\frac{Csig}{C_{f}} \times V_{0}{\sin \left( {{\omega \; t} + {180{^\circ}} + \theta} \right)}}} & (14)\end{matrix}$

The relative phase delay θ can be an aggregate of delays caused byvarious elements of the system, such as the geometry of the signalpaths, the operation of the output buffers, etc. In general, the variousdelays in the system can be separated into two categories, delays thatapply equally to all drive lines of a sense channel, referred to asglobal delays herein, and delays that vary among the drive lines of thesense channel, referred to as individual line delays herein. In otherwords, global delays affect all component signals of the composite sensesignal equally, while individual line delays results in differentamounts of delay for different component signals. The relative phasedelay can be represented as:

θ=DCL+φ(R)  (15)

where:

-   -   DCL=the sum of all global delays (referred to herein as the        composite global delay) affecting a sense channel    -   φ(R)=the individual line delay associated with drive line R of a        sense channel        Substituting equation (15) into equations (13) and (14) yields:

$\begin{matrix}{{V_{{{sense\_ ch}{\_ outV}} +}(t)} = {\frac{Csig}{C_{f}} \times V_{0}{\sin \left( {{\omega \; t} + {DCL} + {\varphi (R)}} \right)}}} & (16) \\{{V_{{{sense\_ ch}{\_ outV}} -}(t)} = {\frac{Csig}{C_{f}} \times V_{0}{\sin \left( {{\omega \; t} + {180{^\circ}} + {DCL} + {\varphi (R)}} \right)}}} & (17)\end{matrix}$

Since the global delays affect all of the component signals of the sensesignal equally, once the composite global delay DCL has been determinedfor a channel, the global portion of the phase delay of sense channeloutput signal can be removed by programmable delay 607, yielding:

$\begin{matrix}{{V_{{mixer\_ inV} +}(t)} = {\frac{Csig}{C_{f}} \times V_{0}{\sin \left( {{\omega \; t} + {\varphi (R)}} \right)}}} & (18) \\{{V_{{mixer\_ inV} -}(t)} = {\frac{Csig}{C_{f}} \times V_{0}{\sin \left( {{\omega \; t} + {180{^\circ}} + {\varphi (R)}} \right)}}} & (19)\end{matrix}$

as the signals corresponding to Vstim+ and Vstim−, respectively, thatare input into mixer 609.

Since the individual line delays are different for different signalcomponents of the sense signal, the individual line delays cannot beremoved from the sense signal simply by using a single phase adjustmentto the composite sense signal, such as the phase adjustment made byprogrammable delay 607. However, the individual line delays may beaccounted for by the compensated phase matrix {tilde over (M)}_(comp)⁻¹, which is described in more detail below.

The phase-adjusted signal is sent from programmable delay 607 to mixer609. Mixer 609 multiplies the phase-adjusted signal with a demodulationsignal,

V _(demod)=sin(ωt),  (20)

which is generated by RX NCO 319 based on a master oscillator 615. It isnoted that the mixing is performed using digital signals. This canprovide higher resolution than in some previous designs, which canresult in improved suppression of noise.

The resulting demodulated signal output from mixer 609 as:

$\begin{matrix}{{V_{{mixer\_ outV} +}(t)} = {\frac{1}{2} \times \frac{Csig}{C_{f}} \times V_{0} \times \begin{pmatrix}{{\cos \left( {\varphi (R)} \right)} -} \\{\cos \left( {{2\; \omega \; t} + {\varphi (R)}} \right)}\end{pmatrix}}} & (21) \\{{V_{{mixer\_ outV} -}(t)} = {\frac{1}{2} \times \frac{Csig}{C_{f}} \times V_{0} \times \begin{pmatrix}{{\cos \left( {{180{^\circ}} + {\varphi (R)}} \right)} -} \\{\cos \left( {{2\omega \; t} + {180{^\circ}} + {\varphi (R)}} \right)}\end{pmatrix}}} & (22)\end{matrix}$

The mixer output is integrated by integrator 611, yielding:

$\begin{matrix}{V_{{int\_ outV} +} = {\frac{1}{2} \times \frac{Csig}{C_{f}} \times V_{0} \times {\cos \left( {\varphi (R)} \right)}}} & (23) \\{V_{{int\_ outV} -} = {\frac{1}{2} \times \frac{Csig}{C_{f}} \times V_{0} \times {\cos \left( {{180{^\circ}} + {\varphi (R)}} \right)}}} & (24)\end{matrix}$

Since the integrator has essentially a low pass response, the highfrequency component cos(2ωt+180°+φ(R)) is eliminated leaving only the DCcomponent.Scaling of the results in integrator 611 by a factor of 2C_(f) resultsin output signals:

V _(int) _(—) _(scaledV+) =V ₀×cos(φ(R))×Csig, if Vstim(R)=Vstim+  (25)

V _(int) _(—) _(scaledV−) =V ₀×cos(180°)+φ(R))×Csig, ifVstim(R)=Vstim−  (26)

from integrator 611. In each step S in a scan of sensor panel 124, drivelines 204 are driven with either Vstim+ or Vstim− drive signals based onthe MUX_SEL values in stim matrix 407 for that step, each stimulationsignal generating a component output (25) or (26) of integrator 611 foreach sense channel. Thus, for a channel C, the output of integrator 611is a linear combination of corresponding components (25) and (26):

V _(int) _(—) _(scaled) _(—) _(tot) _(—) _(C)(S)=V ₀ ×W_(C)(0,S)×Csig(0)+V ₀ ×W _(C)(1,S)×Csig(1)+ . . . V ₀ ×W_(C)(M−1,S)×Csig(M−1)  (27)

where:

${W_{C}\left( {R,S} \right)} = \left\{ \begin{matrix}{{{\cos \left( {\varphi_{C}(R)} \right)}\overset{if}{->}{{Vstim}\left( {R,S} \right)}} = {{Vstim} +}} \\{{{\cos \left( {{180{^\circ}} + {\varphi_{C}(R)}} \right)}\overset{if}{->}{{Vstim}\left( {R,S} \right)}} = {{Vstim} -}}\end{matrix} \right.$

The right hand side of equation (27) is the same as the right hand sideof equation (7), with V₀ equal to the amplitude, Vstim, of thestimulation signals and W_(C)(R,S) equal to the components of thecompensated phase matrix {tilde over (M)}_(C) _(—) _(comp). Therefore,the output voltage of integrator 611, V_(int) _(—) _(scaled) _(—) _(tot)_(—) _(C)(S), at each step is simply the composite signal chargeQsig_tot_(C)(S).

The Qsig_tot_(C) values output by a channel's integrator 611 are postedto result memory 315, forming a Qsig_tot_(C) vector:

$\begin{matrix}{{{Qsig\_ tot}_{C}(S)} = \begin{bmatrix}{{Qsig\_ tot}_{C}(0)} \\{{Qsig\_ tot}_{C}(1)} \\{{Qsig\_ tot}_{C}(2)} \\\; \\\; \\{{Qsig\_ tot}_{C}\left( {P - 1} \right)}\end{bmatrix}} & (28)\end{matrix}$

that is used in a decoding operation to determine the Csig values forthat channel. An example vector decode operation according toembodiments of the invention will now be described. Referring to FIG. 3,vector operator 317 reads the Qsig_tot_(C) vector from memory 315 andreads the decode matrix

$\frac{{\overset{\sim}{M}}_{C\_ comp}^{- 1}}{Vstim}$

from decode matrix RAM 321. Vector operator 317 then performs vectormultiplication of the Qsig_tot_(C) vector and the decode matrix

$\frac{{\overset{\sim}{M}}_{C\_ comp}^{- 1}}{Vstim}$

according to equation (9) to obtain the Csig_(C) vector for channel C:

$\begin{matrix}{{\overset{\sim}{C}{sig}_{C}} = \begin{bmatrix}{{Csig}_{C}(0)} \\{{Csig}_{C}(1)} \\{{Csig}_{C}(2)} \\\; \\\; \\{{Csig}_{C}\left( {M - 1} \right)}\end{bmatrix}} & (29)\end{matrix}$

The Csig_(C) vector is posted to result RAM 323, where it can be read byother systems, such as processor subsystem 102, host processor 128,etc., for sensing touch by comparing the Csig_(C) vector components withknown, static (no touch) values for Csig, for example.

FIG. 7 shows the 2nd stage of the multi-stage vector demodulation engine109. Upon assertion of signal START_FRAME, the vector demodulationengine, step counter and registers are reset. After the first stepmultipliers 701 (one for each drive line, 0 to M−1) multiply the digitalrepresentation of Qsig_tot_(C) available at the output of integrator 611and stored in result memory 315 with a corresponding decode matrixcoefficient stored in {tilde over (M)}_(C) _(—) _(comp) ⁻¹, for step 0,and the result is accumulated in accumulators 703 (1 to 16),respectively, after assertion of signal LOAD_STEP. After the 2nd step,multipliers 701 (0 to M−1) multiply the digital representation ofQsig_tot_(C) available at the output of integrator 611 with a decodematrix coefficient {tilde over (M)}_(C) _(—) _(comp) ⁻¹, for step 1 andthe result is accumulated in accumulators 703 (1 to 16), respectively,after assertion of signal LOAD_STEP. This process is repeated until thedata for the last step P have been processed, at which time theaccumulated data in accumulators 1 to 16, which are now representativeof pixel data Csig_(C), are stored in the result register RAM 323 afterassertion of signal LOAD_PIXEL. Note that signal LOAD_STEP also resetsthe first stage of the multi-stage vector demodulation engine 109 at theend of a given step in preparation for processing the composite data ofthe next step. The 2nd stage of the multi-stage vector demodulationengine essentially performs the operation in equation (9). Multipliers701 (1-16) and accumulators 703 (1-16) need not be implemented asseparate multipliers, but can be implemented with a single multiplierand accumulator that can be shared (i.e. time multiplexed) betweenmultiple channels. An example of this is described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/208,303 (Atty. Docket No. 106842023800), titled“ADVANCED RECEIVE CHANNEL ARCHITECTURE” by Thomas Wilson, which is beingfiled on the same day as the present application, and the contents ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference in entirety for all purposes.

Implementing a multi-stage vector demodulation such as the in thepresent example may provide a more flexible system than conventionaldesigns. For example, the vector operation can allow for selection andtesting of arbitrary vectors, allowing system designers to test andimplement different stimulation matrix/decode matrix combinations, forexample, without the need to extensive redesign of the sensing system.Likewise, use of a vector operation stage may allow the sensing systemto use matrices that are not easily invertible. For example, a Hadamardstimulation matrix containing 0s, 1s, and −1s only (in order tostimulate with a single frequency of phase 0° or 180°) has an inversethat contains just 0s, 1s, and −1s. However, the inverse of a circulantmatrix, for example, contains fractional numbers. The currentimplementation, using matrix decode, allows the use of matrices such asa circulant matrix. In another potential benefit, scaling a system maybe easier to accomplish. For example, in the case that the drivers on achip are not uniform (e.g., in a case that the manufacturing process forthe chip does not produce uniform drivers), the channels may be moreeasily scaled to reduce or correct the mismatch.

Referring to FIG. 3, an example optional feature according toembodiments of the invention will now be described. FIG. 3 illustratesthat, in addition to receiving sense signals from sense channels 307,digital demod section 313 also can receive signals from other channels,such as miscellaneous channels 305 (see FIG. 3), which may includesignals from e.g., sensor 111 (see FIG. 1). Sensor 111 can be, e.g.,infrared sensors, temperature sensors, ambient light sensors, proximitysensors, etc. These miscellaneous channel signals may be used, forexample, to calibrate the system, for example, during the demod/decodeprocess, to display information, for additional sensing, for far fielddetection, etc. The miscellaneous channel signals may be demodulatedand/or decoded similar to the sense signals, described above.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example receive NCO 801 according to embodimentsof the invention. The RX NCO is comprised of a sine phase accumulator803, sine lookup table 805, mixer 807, amplitude phase accumulator 809and amplitude lookup table 811. The programmable phase incrementsine_phase_inc determines the frequency of the demodulation waveform.The phase accumulator 803 accumulates the sine phase incrementsine_phase_inc. The output of the sine phase accumulator 803 representsan address into the sine lookup table 805. The synthesized waveform outof the sine lookup table 805 has a constant amplitude which then isenvelope shaped by multiplying it with the envelope. The envelope shapeis stored in an amplitude table 811 and is retrieved from the amplitudeLUT at a rate set by the amplitude phase increment amp_phase_inc.Similarly to the sine phase increment, the amplitude phase incrementamp_phase_inc is accumulated by an amplitude phase accumulator 809. Theoutput of the amplitude phase accumulator 809 represents an address intothe amplitude RAM. For example, the sine lookup table 805 may store 2048coefficients, representing exactly one sine-wave cycle. The sine phaseincrement may be a 16 bit number, i.e. the phase accumulator 809 is also16 bits. Since the sine lookup table 805 stores 2048 coefficients,representing an address space of 11 bits, only the upper 11 bits out ofthe sine phase accumulator 809 would be passed into the address port ofthe sine lookup table. Assuming that the demodulation waveform isgenerated at the ADC clock rate, FCLK_ADC, the phase increment for agiven stimulus frequency FSTM may be phase_inc=2̂16*FSTM/FCLK_ADC. Thebenefit of having envelope shaping is that the spectral properties ofthe passband of the demodulation can be precisely controlled. Thefrequency response of the demodulation is essentially the convolution ofthe time domain representation of the envelope and the sine wave out ofthe sine lookup table 805. For example, for a rectangular window thefrequency domain representation the demodulation would be a singlefrequency component convoluted with the time domain representation ofthe rectangular window (sinc function sin(x)/x). By using appropriatewindow functions such as Chebychev or Gaussian windows, the passbandresponse can be optimized to fit a given application. The TX NCO may beconstructed in a similar fashion and may or may not feature envelopeshaping.

In addition to stimulating scanning touch sensor panel 124 to detecttouch events, touch controller 106 can perform other functions. Forexample, controller 106 can perform a spectrum analyzer function priorto actively scanning panel 124 for touch detection. In a spectrumanalyzer function, controller 106 drives panel 124 with drive signals ofdifferent frequencies in order to determine one or more frequencies thathave the lowest noise. The low-noise frequency or frequencies can thenbe used to drive panel 124 during the active scanning phase. An examplespectrum analyzer function is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 12/208,334 (Atty. Docket No. 106842007720), titled “SINGLE-CHIPTOUCH CONTROLLER WITH INTEGRATED DRIVE SYSTEM” by Christoph Horst Krah,Steve Porter Hotelling, Marduke Yousefpor and Tom Wilson, which is beingfiled on the same day as the present application, and which is aContinuation-In-Part (CIP) application of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 11/818,345, filed Jun. 13, 2007, the contents of both applicationsare incorporated herein by reference in entirety for all purposes.

FIG. 9 a illustrates example mobile telephone 936 that can include touchsensor panel 924 and display device 930, the touch sensor panelincluding a single-chip multi-stimulus controller according toembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 9 b illustrates example digital media player 940 that can includetouch sensor panel 924 and display device 930, the touch sensor panelincluding a single-chip multi-stimulus controller according toembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 9 c illustrates example personal computer 944 that can includetouch sensor panel (trackpad) 924 and display 930, the touch sensorpanel and/or display of the personal computer (in embodiments where thedisplay is part of a touch screen) including a single-chipmulti-stimulus controller according to embodiments of the invention.

Although embodiments of this invention have been fully described withreference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that variouschanges and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in theart. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as beingincluded within the scope of embodiments of this invention as defined bythe appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for decoding a plurality of sensesignals, the apparatus comprising: demodulation circuitry configured formixing each sense signal with a demodulation signal to obtain a set ofcomposite measurements, each sense signal being formed of a plurality ofcomponent signals resulting from driving a sensor with a combination ofsimultaneous drive signals; and processing circuitry configured forprocessing the set of composite measurements to obtain measurement datacarried by the component signals, wherein processing the set ofcomposite measurements comprises decoding the set of compositemeasurements to derive the measurement data carried by the componentsignals, wherein the decoding is based on a plurality of values used togenerate the simultaneous drive signals.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein processing the set of composite measurements comprises decodingthe set of composite measurements based on a second plurality of values,the second plurality of values based on an inverse of the plurality ofvalues used to generate the simultaneous drive signals.
 3. The apparatusof claim 2, wherein the second plurality of values includes adjustmentsto compensate for differences in phase delays among the componentsignals.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: an oscillatorconfigured to output the demodulation signal to the demodulationcircuitry.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the oscillator forms thedemodulation signal by generating a periodic waveform and mixing theperiodic waveform with an envelope waveform.
 6. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the demodulation circuitry is further configured for applyinga programmable delay to each sense signal to match a phase of thedemodulation signal.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thedemodulation circuitry is further configured for integrating an outputfrom the mixing of each sense signal with the demodulation signal toobtain the set of composite measurements.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the set of composite measurements are stored in a first memory.9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to read the set of composite measurements from the firstmemory.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mixing of each sensesignal with the demodulation signal is performed using digital signals.11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement data are stored ina second memory.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the componentsignals are signal charges injected into a sense line by the drivesignals.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the drive signals includedrive signals that are the same frequency and 180 degrees out of phase.14. A method for demodulating and decoding sense signals, the methodcomprising: mixing each sense signal with a demodulation signal toobtain a set of composite measurements, each sense signal being formedof a plurality of component signals resulting from driving a sensor witha combination of simultaneous drive signals; and processing the set ofcomposite measurements to obtain measurement data carried by thecomponent signals, wherein processing the set of composite measurementscomprises decoding the set of composite measurements to derive themeasurement data carried by the component signals, wherein the decodingis based on a plurality of values used to generate the simultaneousdrive signals.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein processing the set ofcomposite measurements comprises decoding the set of compositemeasurements based on a second plurality of values, the second pluralityof values based on an inverse of the plurality of values used togenerate the simultaneous drive signals.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein the second plurality of values includes adjustments tocompensate for differences in phase delays among the component signals.17. The method of claim 14, wherein the demodulation signal is formed bygenerating a periodic waveform and mixing the periodic waveform with anenvelope waveform.
 18. The method of claim 14, further comprisingapplying a programmable delay to each sense signal to match a phase ofthe demodulation signal.
 19. The method of claim 14, further comprisingintegrating an output from the mixing of each sense signal with thedemodulation signal to obtain the set of composite measurements.
 20. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the drive signals include drive signals thatare the same frequency and 180 degrees out of phase.